Kerala - Kochi   

Concern as mosquito index rises

KOCHI: The Health authorities have warned of an imminent fever threat because of the high index of mosquitoes found in a random survey.

A State entomology team had found the index at a high of 240 and above against the threshold index of 50. The Bretaeu index, as it is called, is an average of various indices calculated by the entomologists like the container index (number of containers with mosquito larvae out of the total number of containers) and household index.

Corporation area and Muvattupuzha municipality were found to have the highest index. Aluva, Perumbavur, Angamaly, Kothamangalam and few panchayats like Ezhikkara and Poothrika were found with high mosquito index.

While the Aedes mosquito is a carrier of both chikungunya and dengue fever, the Health authorities anticipate an outbreak of dengue fever in a virulent form of dengue shock syndrome and dengue haemorrhage fever that have a high fatality rate. Dengue fever had affected a lot of people in 2003-04. The Health authorities foresee another cycle of dengue after a gap. Chikungunya continues to be a threat.

The Additional Director (Medical), Dr. C. Raghavan, who was here on Saturday, has instructed immediate action to reduce the source of vector. The District Medical Officer K. T. Remani said that they have instructed the ward-level committees to actively take up the source-reduction campaign. The Government has given Rs. 10,000 to each ward to take up public-health-related activities in the wake of chikungunya epidemic that had hit the State for the last couple of years.

Seeking the public’s active support in source-reduction activities, senior Health official said that unless the public realises the danger and supports the activities of the Health staff and volunteers in various parts of the district, the campaign would not be effective.

The Aedes mosquito larvae are found in stagnant fresh water found in various containers left in the open or coconut shells, unused tyres etc. Cleaning and waste clearing activity needs to be taken up on war-footing to avoid other communicable diseases, the Health authorities added.

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